The Chaliphate - Muir - The Search For Mecca

A.D. 65S-60] SYRIANS RAID ARABIA 283
to show his contempt for the power of 'Ah, made an incur- A.H. 38-40.
sion right across Mesopotamia, and for some days remained Mu-a^iya
encamped on the banks of the Tigris. After leisurely ^'isits
'
inspecting Al-Mausil, which he had never seen before, he "
made his way back to Damascus unmolested.
The 40th year of the Hijra opened with a new grief for Ruid of Busr
'All. When the time of pilgrimage came round, Mu'awiva
°" -"^rabia,
sent Rusr, a brave but cruel captain of his host, with 3000 660 a.d.
men into Arabia, to secure for him the allegiance of the
Holy Places. As he drew nigh to Medina, the governor fled
and Rusr entered unopposed. Proceeding to the Mosque,
he mounted the sacred steps of the Prophet's pulpit, and
recalling 'Othman to mind, addressed the people thus "
: ()
citizens of Medina ! The aged man ! Where is the greyhaired
aged man whom, but as yesterday, and on this ver}^
spot, I swore allegiance to ? Verily, but for m}' promise to
Mu'awix'a, who bade me stay the sword, I had not left here
a single soul alive "
! Then he threatened the leading
citizens with death if Ihey refused to acknowledge Mu'awiya
as their Caliph ;
and so, fearing for their lives, all took the
oath of allegiance to the Umeiyad ruler. Passing on to
Mecca, the same scene was enacted by the imperious envo}'
there, and with the same result.^ Then marching south to
the Yemen, he committed great atrocities there upon the
adherents of 'All. The governor, a son of A1-' Abbas, escaped
to his cousin 'All at Al-Kufa. But two of his little children, infant
chd'Jien of
All s cousin
. .
falling ° into the tyrant's hands, were put to death in cold
blood, with their Bedawi attendant, who in vain protested slain.
against the cruel act. An army of 4000 men was despatched
in haste from Al-Kufa, but too late to stop these outrages ;
and Busr made good his escape to Syria. The wretched
Peninsula fared no better at the hands of the relieving arm\-.
Many of the inhabitants of Nejran were put to death because
they had belonged to 'Othman's party. The men of Mecca
were forced to recall the oath they had just taken, and again
do homage to 'All. Similarly, the citizens of Medina swore
allegiance to Al-Hasan,son of'/\ll, at the point of the sword;
but no sooner were the troops gone, than the leader of the
'
On
Busr's approach, Abu l\Iusa (the umpire) fled from Mecca for
his life. The unfortunate man had been living there ever since the
arbitration, equally obnoxious to both sides.